Thanks for the offer Gem1950, if Golfish has trouble finding his, I might have to take you up on that! This lever gun community is filled with generous folks, glad to be a part of it now!

on a side note, I noticed the Rossi's have a pretty thick coating of that storage grease on it out the box, so I am prepared to do a nice cleaning and lube before taking her out for the maiden voyage. Any suggestions on particular products used to clean stainless and the parts on the rossi to focus on. I use balistol on most of my guns for quick cleans, or hoppes 9 and oil if I plan to store it for any amount of time. I ordered some mothers mag and aluminum polish cause I saw a youtube video of a guy buffing out is stainless gun for a nice finish. any advice is appreciated.

Most guys will remove the buttstock, remove the mag spring and follower and spray the action, barrel and mag tube with non chlorinated brake cleaner. I remove the forearm stock because I'm a pig and you don't want this stuff getting on the wood. Then lube good..its in the video....

Most guys will remove the buttstock, remove the mag spring and follower and spray the action, barrel and mag tube with non chlorinated brake cleaner. I remove the forearm stock because I'm a pig and you don't want this stuff getting on the wood. Then lube good..its in the video....

thanks again Golfish....any particular brand of brake cleaner recommended I should look for?

I absolutely love my Ranch Hand. I feel like a cowboy when I shoot it. You can also get it in a .45 long Colt, .45 Colt, .44 Mag, and I got it in .357 for economical reasons.

Same here. The .357/.38 version seemed to be the most economical to shoot. More shooting=more fun. All that collected brass is also screaming for me to start learning how to reload which I already plan to.

A 38/357 lever action is "on my list", but I just can't seem to find a new or used one for sale..

__________________
"Unless we keep the barbarian virtues, gaining the civilized ones will be of little avail. Oversentimentality, oversoftness, washiness, and mushiness are the great dangers of this age and of this people." Theodore Roosevelt

anyone shooting 38 special + out of your 357 chambered lever guns? I am waiting for my rossi 357 and came across a few boxes of remington 38 special +P at Wally world. one of the guys was telling me it has extra pressure, and it could cause barrel damage if you shoot of a gun chambered for 38 special only, but if it is 357/38 special, it should be fine. It will be similar to shooting 357....(just trying to keep this thread alive!)

They have a Rossi 357 mag stainless steel 16" for $530 at target masters in Milpitas. 45 mins from you. I
Bought one and get it tomorrow. They have 2 left. Also have 2different blued versions (one w big loop) for $488.

That place in Pacifica had a Henry big boy 357 for 8 something a week or so ago. The gun vault in mountain view had a Henry 357 big boy for $899.

They have a Rossi 357 mag stainless steel 16" for $530 at target masters in Milpitas. 45 mins from you. I
Bought one and get it tomorrow. They have 2 left. Also have 2different blued versions (one w big loop) for $488.

Long live the lever thread!!!!! LoL!

Woooooo!

Nice. That sst Rossi might have to be my next rifle. Love the look of stainless on a lever action gun.

On a side note, went to Metcalf this morning to do a sight in on my Rossi Ranch Hand after replacing the sights. A family right next to my bud and I were teaching a young lady how to shoot. Don't think it was her first time, but still a relative newbie. She didn't like the 9mm or .45 as much as the .22lr pistol they were teaching her with. She expressed some interest as to what I was shooting. I let her shoot a few rounds of .38 special from my Ranch Hand. Now she wants one as her first gun. I could hear her behind me as I continued shooting expressing to the older gentlemen in her group that she found "her" gun. I also let another young man in her group, her cousin, I believe to shoot it. He wants one now too.

I have a Win 94 in 357 mag that I bought several years ago. It's a breeze to shoot with 38 special, no recoil at all - it's like shooting a 22. Back in the day I could afford to put rounds of 38 special down range all day long.

ok fellas, I picked up my Rossi 357 R92 today brought her home and cleaner her up. I just wiped down all the camoline and ran a patch through the barrel to get any excess crap off of it. I was hesitant to open her up as I don't know much about levers and don't have the steve Gunz dvd yet. (Nothing on youtube either). I took her to the range and went through 8 flawless rounds of 38 special. After I loaded up the next 8 rounds, I ran into problems. The last round I fed would get caught at angle and would not feed upwards. It appears the follower would push it against the load gate. using a small screwdriver would pop it into place, but it seems to be happening every time I load her up.

The other problem (could be related) is when I straighten the round out, it doesn't allow the feeder to pop the round into place. I end up dumping out a round then back to action. I find that I have to make sure I "pop" the lever all the way forward otherwise it won't load properly.

Anyone else experience this? Are these issues that will be fixed by making the Steve Gunz mods? The guys at Target masters suggested I send it back to Rossi to have them fix it appears there is some problem. I don't want to do any modification and void the warranty? any advice is appreciated.

Its normal with Rossi...The .357 is the worst of the bunch. I didn't want to deal with taking the gun down at the time so I sent mine back to Rossi. Took about 6weeks to get it back. It was all about adjusting the cartridge guides. so they said.

Try a couple of the tricks in my PM I sent ya. Those guide screws are always too long..or seem to be.

FWIW, The mods on Steve's DVD don't always fix the problem. He's about slicking the guns up, not fixing Rossi's screw ups. Work the action and for sure replace the mag follower.

I think you just need to break in the gun more before thinking about sending it in. On my Ranch Hand, I noticed unless I levered the gun with intent the feeder would not pop up to feed the next round.I just pretty much just lubed her up and just worked the lever till she loosened up a bit. I mustve gotten a few hundred reps on the lever over the course of watching a one hour show. When I finally took the Ranch Hand to the range, it fed everything without s problem although I dont really work the lever slowly or gently as most people have told mr to always work that lever with some force like you would the slide on a semi auto handgun.

Thanks for the feedback fellas! Darmdog, I am noticing the same thing when I don't pop the action, the feeder won't pop up. As long as I know it will work itself out, I don't mind being patient. Like I said before, I am new to lever actions all together, so more than anything I just wanted to know what I should be expecting and what is a serious defect.

Got a question about the top ejecting leverguns. I really love the looks of the Uberti and Winchester Case Hardened guns, but it seems like most of the vids I have seen of them include almost every ejected case smacking you in the face. Is that the reality of it?

I haven't really seen a Marlin that looks good to me, so I am leaning towards a Uberti/Winchester or a Henry. Thinking about picking up 2 of them around Christmas time. A .357 for me, and a .22 for my 80 year old Dad.

ok fellas, I picked up my Rossi 357 R92 today brought her home and cleaner her up. I just wiped down all the camoline and ran a patch through the barrel to get any excess crap off of it. I was hesitant to open her up as I don't know much about levers and don't have the steve Gunz dvd yet. (Nothing on youtube either). I took her to the range and went through 8 flawless rounds of 38 special. After I loaded up the next 8 rounds, I ran into problems. The last round I fed would get caught at angle and would not feed upwards. It appears the follower would push it against the load gate. using a small screwdriver would pop it into place, but it seems to be happening every time I load her up.

The other problem (could be related) is when I straighten the round out, it doesn't allow the feeder to pop the round into place. I end up dumping out a round then back to action. I find that I have to make sure I "pop" the lever all the way forward otherwise it won't load properly.

Anyone else experience this? Are these issues that will be fixed by making the Steve Gunz mods? The guys at Target masters suggested I send it back to Rossi to have them fix it appears there is some problem. I don't want to do any modification and void the warranty? any advice is appreciated.

I own a Marlin in .357/.38 not a Rossi so take this for what it's worth but....

From everything I've read and from my experience (albeit limited) they are sometimes sensitive to OAL with .38 loads. The .38 that Ive used that was FMJ worked flawlessly. A few boxes of soft nose semi jacketed and JHP fed a bit clunky as they were a touch shorter and not rounded. A more assertive operation of the lever cured most of it, but they still didn't feed as smoothly as the JHP or the longer .357 rounds.

I agree with Damn True. Most levers are sensative to AOL of .38s. For example my Marlin 1894C would shoot the old style round nosed FMJ Walmart bulk .38 specials flawlessly. But they were true round nose. And let me add they were INSANE accurate in the Marlin!
Then without notice Walmart Bulk .38 came with a FMJ with a flat tip, making it a little shorter OAL. That change made them jam so bad I had to disassemble the action to get it out. So much for all those .38s I stocked up on... .357s on the other hand, have been flawless.

I also have the Rossi M92 (16" Barrel, large loop and saddle ring) that my son bought me for last X mas and I love it. It actually feeds the Marlin Rejected Walmart .38s just fine. However I had shot like over 600 rounds of .357s before I ever put a .38 into in so it was "broken in by then". basically I ran outta .357s and all I had was all those .38s sitting there so I said "lets see if these will work in the Rossi?"
YEa that screw on the side of the receiver was loose and when I tightened it it made the action bind so I had to leave it loose. I'll grind it down a bit when I get a chance.
I just hated the rear sight on the Rossi. It is terrible. SO I ground the top of it flat so its a regular rear sight like my .22s or SKS. I can see the front sight and taraget better now.

Thanks for the info fellas and glad I could get this thread rolling! Lol. Sorry to sound like a noob, but what is oal and aol.

I did notice the ones that jammed were lead round nose federals. I tried some remington fmj, but those had problems also. Gonna try and do a full strip and clean after I watch Steve gunz DVD (btw- Golfish, I just got it, thanks!). I think if I change out the follower spring and follower it may help. It seems the follower is pressing against the round when it's loaded, pushing it against the load gate. The pressure keeps it jammed.

My brother has a Puma (Rossi) 20" in .357. I have called it, on many occasions, the most fun gun to shoot between what him and I own. The recoil is practically non-existent with 357, and laughable when you shoot 38 special. The action is smooth and the trigger, on his gun at least, is very light and crisp. It's the best I've ever shot to date. As far as I'm concerned, a rifle in 357 should be in everyone's collection.

"A rifle in 357 should be in everyone's collection"

Couldn't say it better,
my Puma is one fun balanced easy gun to shoot,
packs easily, carries light,
good lookin' too
in 357 magnum we have a wonderful cartridge,
both in pistol and lever it offers utility,
powerful enough for black bear,
small enough to shoot rabbits (esp. with 38s),
cheap to practise plinking with 38 reloads
and one of the best tactical rounds,
accurate,
not cheap but much more affordable
than high power rifles,
with enough 'umph' to get the job done

Got a question about the top ejecting leverguns. I really love the looks of the Uberti and Winchester Case Hardened guns, but it seems like most of the vids I have seen of them include almost every ejected case smacking you in the face. Is that the reality of it?

I haven't really seen a Marlin that looks good to me, so I am leaning towards a Uberti/Winchester or a Henry. Thinking about picking up 2 of them around Christmas time. A .357 for me, and a .22 for my 80 year old Dad.

Got a question about the top ejecting leverguns. I really love the looks of the Uberti and Winchester Case Hardened guns, but it seems like most of the vids I have seen of them include almost every ejected case smacking you in the face. Is that the reality of it?

I haven't really seen a Marlin that looks good to me, so I am leaning towards a Uberti/Winchester or a Henry. Thinking about picking up 2 of them around Christmas time. A .357 for me, and a .22 for my 80 year old Dad.

I took my top ejecting Rossi R92 to the range on Memorial day and didn't have one case hit me in the face. Most cases went over my noggin. I think one might have landed on top of my head and just bounced off. I also made sure to maintain cheek weld while working the lever. If I lowered the rifle to work the action, I can see how a spent case would be able to hit me in the face. Just my 2 cents.